The gardens of Alcatraz grow across an island that began as bare rock. Soldiers, prison staff, and inmates planted them over the decades, and volunteers maintain the restored beds today.
Details
- Type
- Historic Site
- Accessibility
- Limited accessibility
Bare rock to gardens
Alcatraz has no native flora. When the Army and the Lighthouse Service arrived, the island was a barren, guano-covered rock. Every bit of soil and every plant on the island was brought out by people. In the 1860s, military families planted formal gardens to make the post feel more like home.
Prison gardeners
During the federal penitentiary years, prison staff and a small number of trusted inmates tended terraces, rose beds, and lawns. For some inmates, gardening was one of the few activities that offered a measure of focus and relief from prison routine.
Neglect and restoration
After the prison closed in 1963, the gardens grew wild for about four decades. Many of the original plants survived the neglect. Volunteer gardeners, working in partnership with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, restored and now maintain the historic plantings, watered in part through a rainwater catchment system.